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Full Version: Fourth of July Trip
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Wow...all I can say is that ocean fishing was a humbling experience.

We took an all day boat out of Dana Point to Catalina. Yeah, I know it's the furthest point from Catalina but I really didn't feel like having a huge crowd on the boat. We only had 24 people fishing that day. It's about a three hour cruise but many of us slept on the bunks for the entire ride.

I had a Sealine Reel with 25 lb test and a 7' Californian Pole (on sale at Turners now for $40). I'm used to fishing for bass with spinning reels so this new reel was a bit of a challenge. Although I was lucky enough not to ruin my spool of line, I couldn't cast worth sh*t. It was very frustrating. In hindsight, I should have had one of the deckhands teach me at the bow since everyone else was in the rear.

I got so frustrated. I used my spinning real with 10 lb test. I was able to set a few bonito but I could never land them. Line just kept snapping even with a significant amount of drag. I didn't want to leave to much drag because I didn't want to interfere with the other fishermen.

The boat as a whole landed 3 yellowtail and a ton of bonito with a good amount of calico as well. I believe someone caught a sheephead as well.

Moral of the story...know how to cast before taking this type of a trip. I'm not one to give up easily so I can't wait to get back out there and catch me a yellowtail.

Best regards,

Paul
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[cool][font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]Hi there Mead-Stripers and thank for your report. Sometimes as you said some outtings can be very frustrating. Hey the main thing is getting out there and doing your thing. A day fishing beats any day in front of the boob tube.[Wink][/size][/green][/font]
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It sounds like you had a good ime inspite of a few technical difficulties. It does take some practice as well as time to get used to conventional reels. Once you do, then the real fun begins.

Let me know when you plan on going back out. I could give you a few lessons and even get you into some good fishing.[cool]
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I really appreciate that. Yeah, I want to redeem myself from that horrific outing. I haven't had the time to practice casting with the conventional reel but I intend to soon. I'll let you know when I head back out there.

Best regards,

Paul
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